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Identity of ‘El Chapo’s son questioned in Mexico

Mexican Attorney General's Office investigating to confirm identity

Attorney Verónica Guerrero (left) and Elodia León Vega, who claims to be the mother of the young man captured last Thursday (June 21st) identified as alleged son of drug Capo Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, speak during a press conference. EFE

by EFE

June 22 2012

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MEXICO CITY.- Mexican authorities announced today that they are in the process of investigating to “confirm beyond doubt”

the identity of the two young men detained last Thursday, one of which was originally identified as the “alleged son” of Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán.

The information was released amidst doubts concerning the true identity of the suspect posed by a woman claiming to be the mother of one of the detainees who, when presented to the media yesterday, was initially acknowledged as Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and her attorney.

In a press release, the Attorney General’s Office (Procuraduría General de la República, PGR) informed today about the processes in relation to the handing over to the Public Prosecution Office (Ministerio Público Federal, MPF) of “two people with the alleged names of Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar and Kevin Daniel Beltrán Ríos”.

“As with every case, the Public Prosecution Office immediately started to gather the official evidence necessary to confirm beyond doubt the identity of these two people after the Secretary of Marine left the prisoners in the public prosecutor’s hands and in accordance with the lawful rights they are entitled to” states the official release.

“The Public Prosecution Office will resolve the legal standing of both people according to the terms established by the law” remarks the statement but does not specify said terms.

It also says that the “initial assessment of the first man’s alleged identity was based on the identifying duties performed by many United States agencies, with which there is a systematic exchange of information to better fight against criminal organizations”.

A Mexican woman who presented herself before the press as Elodia León Vega denied today that one of the two detainees was the son of “El Chapo” and asserted that he is her own son named Félix Beltrán León.

The woman, who didn’t show any documents confirming her own identity, stated to the press in her hometown of Guadalajara that her son is “being mistaken out of malice” and rejected any relationship with the drug leader’s family.

“He works with his mother-in-law; he helps her to sell used cars. He got married here and has lived with his wife for two years, they have a son together” she assured.

“They have him mixed up, it’s an injustice, what they want right now is to succeed and win votes over” insisted hinting at the Mexican elections, to be held on the 1st of July.

She also offered to subject herself to DNA testing to confirm their identity and said that she will make documents, like his birth certificate, available to authorities to prove that the captured man is his son.

Elodia León was with her attorney, Verónica González. They both declared that the 23 year old man was born in Los Ángeles (US) and is the half brother of the other detainee, Kevin Daniel Beltrán Ríos; they didn’t offer any details about the latter.

In their first official statement yesterday, Mexican authorities described Guzmán Salazar as the “alleged son” of “El Chapo”.

A later release signed by the PGR (Attorney General’s Office) and the Secretary of Marine, even though still calling him “alleged son”, stated that he “is the son of María Alejandrina Salazar Hernández and Joaquín Guzmán Loera (aka) ‘El Chapo Guzmán’”.

In addition, it affirmed the detainee to be a “key element” of the Cartel of Sinaloa “not only due to his direct blood relation to its boss known as “El Chapo Guzmán”, but because presumably he is in charge of managing the head leader’s assets”.

In that second press release, Mexican authorities announced that at the moment of the man initially identified as Guzmán Salazar being detained, the agents seized “various ID cards with different names”.

The United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) congratulated Mexican authorities on their capture of Guzmán Salazar yesterday shortly after the arrest was made public.

“We congratulate the Mexican Government for the capture of the son of “El Chapo” Guzmán which we consider to be one more step towards the consolidation of the rule of law in México” declared Karen Carreno, Washington spokesperson of the DEA.